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Legacies of the Anglo-Hashemite Relationship in Jordan: How this symbiotic alliance established the legitimacy and political longevity of the regime in the process of state-formation, 1914-1946.
No full textAn analysis of the formation and consolidation of the territorial state, political regime, and sociopolitical nation of Jordan, from the end of the Ottoman Empire through the British Mandate for Transjordan
Is being connected worth it? An investigation into the costs of receiving media notifications while completing academic tasks.
No full textThe advent of smartphones has allowed young adults to live life with a fully connected world in their pocket, sending and receiving an average of 128 text messages per day (Burke, 2016). Correlational studies have consistently found that increased mobile phone use is correlated with a lower GPA (Harman et al., 2010; Kirschner et al., 2010; Lepp et al., 2015). Previous research has started to investigate the distracting effects of mobile phones, from carrying on a messaging conversation while reading a passage to hearing a phone ring while listening to a lecture (Fox et al., 2009; Shelton et al., 2009). To date, no one has yet examined the effect of receiving auditory media notifications while reading passages of varying difficulty. Participants (n = 11) in the present study had their eyes tracked while reading non-fiction passages that were either interrupted with a notification tone or non-interrupted. Passages varied from easy to hard difficulty, and featured three-question comprehension tests. Interestingly, participants performed worst on comprehension of easy reading passages interrupted with the notification tone. Durations of eye fixations increased on both types of passages interrupted with the notification tone. These results provide evidence that media notifications differentially negatively disrupt reading comprehension. Implications and future directions are discussed
Contested Landscapes of "Reimagined" Civic Commons.
No full textIn September of 2016, The J.P.B, John S. and James L. Knight, Kresge and Rockefeller Foundations announced a combined $20 million investment in civic infrastructure (re)development across Detroit, Chicago, Memphis and Akron— after first piloting the collaboration and investment model in Philadelphia. This funding initiative, named “Reimagining the Civic Commons” (R.C.C.), assumes recent trends of social and physical “fragmentation and isolation” in American urban space. R.C.C. then posits social and physical reparation through “(re)activating and connecting” civic assets to yield increased, more equitably shared prosperity. Yet, a myriad of relationships to and imaginations of place undulate within each target community and among those with Civic Commons decision-making power. This heterogeneity is also sedimented in the already-existing “assets” that R.C.C. seeks to repurpose, materially troubling the initiative’s assumption of universal and “authentic” relationships to the physical and social landscape. This thesis illustrates how Reimagining the Civic Commons’ landscape-reshapings activate frictions between territorily-preserved legacies of ontological struggle and neoliberal visions of “civic” futures. Such frictions are necessarily localized, emerging from particular contexts and becoming both remade and subject to erasure as those contexts become abstracted
Understanding Student Reasoning in Writing: Developing analytic frameworks for Biology and Engineering.
No full textBiology laboratory courses can engage students in deep scientific thinking, enhancing their reasoning and understanding of biological concepts through laboratory experiments (Sundberg & Moncada, 1994; Gasper & Gardner, 2013). This can be particularly evident in laboratory reports, with student writing having been shown to significantly improve critical thinking skills in Biology (Quitadamo & Kurtz, 2007) and being a place to practice scientific argumentation (Kuhn, 2010). However, there have been obstacles in assessing student engagement in reasoning and argumentation, as well as the question of multidisciplinary applicability. This thesis aimed to developed an analytic framework for assessing students' performed reasoning and argumentation in laboratory reports which would account for linguistic variation, the framing of the laboratory reports, and which would also be able to be applied to other disciplines
Effect of Silver Diamine Fluoride on Shear Bonding Strength to Dentin for Different Restorative Materials on Primary Molars
No full textAbstract: Aim and Hypothesis: This In vitro study was conducted to investigate the effect of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) on shear bond strength (SBS) of three different restorative materials after SDF treatment on primary dentin. Materials and Methods: Glass ionomer cement (GIC), resin-modified bioactive resin (ACTIVA), and composite resin (CR) were tested. Thirty teeth were randomized into three groups of 10 teeth. Each tooth was split mesiodistally and randomized into test (artificial caries + SDF) and control (sound dentine + no SDF). The restorative material was placed, then tested for SBS, and type of failure was recorded. Results: All the test groups exhibited significantly lower mean SBS compared to the control groups (CR: p = 0.001; ACTIVA: p = 0.001; GIC: p = 0.004). For the SDF group, the comparison of materials was significant (p = 0.006), with significance between CR and ACTIVA (p = 0.009) and ACTIVA and GIC (p = 0.020), but not CR and GIC (p = 0.950). For the control group, Welch's F test was statistically significant (p = 0.044), but all post-hoc tests were not. The control CR group had only mixed failures, with a significantly greater percentage of mixed failures than the test group (p = 0.023). The test ACTIVA group showed only adhesive failures, with a significantly greater percentage of adhesive failures than the control group (p=0.041). The test GIC group had only mixed failures with no significant difference between test and control groups (p = 1.00). For the SDF group, ACTIVA only exhibited adhesive failures, and only mixed in GIC; the difference between groups was significant (p < 0.001). For the type of failure in the test group, CR had adhesive failures in 70% of samples with a significant difference between CR and GIC (p = 0.002), but not between CR and ACTIVA (p = 0.105). For the control group, there was no significant difference in type of failure (p=0.094). Conclusion: SDF significantly reduced the SBS when compared to the control. For the test group, mean SBS was highest for CR, GIC and then ACTIVA; differences between ACTIVA and the other groups were significant. For the control group, SBS was again highest for CR, then GIC and then ACTIVA, but all post-hoc tests were not significant. For type of failure, SDF exhibited a greater percentage of adhesive failures with ACTIVA and CR than with GIC. In the control group, a mixed type of failure was more dominant than the adhesive with no significant differences between materials. We recommend considering using CR or GIC after applying SDF on carious primary dentin.Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2018.Submitted to the Dept. of Pediatric Dentistry.Advisor: Cheen Loo.Committee: Gerard Kugel, Yoon Kang, and Matthew Finkelman.Keyword: Dentistry
Intestine Specific Ablation of Acyl-CoA Synthetase 5 (ACSL5) Increases Satiety and Protects Against Diet Induced Obesity
No full textAbstract: The intestine is recognized as an absorptive organ, facilitating the internalization of nutrients from the diet for use by the body. In addition to this canonical role a growing body of research has established the intestine as an active regulator of energy homeostasis. Through multiple signaling mechanisms the intestine is capable of modifying whole body energy balance in response to dietary components such as fatty acids (FA). Altering normal intestinal FA absorption dysregulates these signaling networks and has the potential to cause profound physiological changes, including weight loss, improved insulin sensitivity, improved glucose tolerance, and protection from high fat diet induced obesity. Despite the influence of the intestine on systemic metabolism, many intestinal enzymes involved in lipid absorption have poorly defined functions and their contributions to intestine dependent regulation of whole body energy metabolism are largely unknown. The initial phase of cellular FA absorption involves the acylation of FFA to acyl-CoA by the acyl-CoA long chain synthetase (ACSL) class of proteins. Intestinal acyl-CoA's are the precursors for multiple reactions occurring in intestinal lipid metabolism including esterification of fat soluble Vitamin A, esterification of Cholesterol, formation of TAG from FA, and oxidation of FA. ACSL5 is the major ACSL isoform in the intestine. Whole body knockout of ACSL5 impairs intestinal TAG metabolism and increases whole body energy metabolism. The underlying molecular mechanisms by which ACSL5 functions in intestinal lipid handling and regulation of energy expenditure remain undefined. Thus, the specific aims of this project are (1) to determine the role of enterocyte ACSL5 in regulating absorption of dietary TAG and cholesterol and (2) to determine the effects of intestinal ACSL5 on the regulation of energy metabolism. To determine the role of ACSL5 in lipid absorption and regulation of energy expenditure we generated a novel, intestine-specific inducible knockout model of ACSL5 (ACSL5IKO). We found that intestine specific loss of ACSL5 causes delayed gastric emptying and reduced TAG secretion, but does not cause gross lipid malabsorption. Surprisingly when ACSL5IKO mice are challenged with a high fat diet (HFD) they experience rapid and sustained protection from body fat accumulation. We demonstrate that this protection is due largely to reductions in energy intake caused by increased satiety signaling. Our data indicate multiple potential mechanisms by which intestine-specific loss of ACSL5 may alter satiety signaling including an altered bile acid pool composition, increased release of enteroendocrine hormones, and increased activation of intestinal peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha (PPARα). Importantly, the observed protection from diet induced obesity in the absence of fecal fat loss implicates intestinal ACSL5 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of obesity and related metabolic complications.Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2018.Submitted to the Dept. of Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition.Advisor: Andrew Greenberg.Committee: Joel Mason, Edward Saltzman, and David Cohen.Keywords: Nutrition, and Biology
REGULATION AND SIGNALING OF THE REGENERATING GENE (REG) PROTEIN IN THE PANCREAS
No full textAbstract: The prevalence of the Reg family proteins in mammals, particularly in damaged or inflamed tissues, suggests important biological role(s) of these proteins that re-mains unclear to date. In this thesis, the efficacy was evaluated of the murine pan-creatic cell lines 266-6 acinar cells, MIN6 insulinoma cells and β-TC insulinoma cells, as in vitro models for studying the function of Reg proteins. The PANC-1 and CAPAN-1 cell lines were also evaluated as models of human pancreatic can-cer for investigation of Reg proteins in this context. Recombinant Reg protein was produced in yeast and characterized by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), western blotting, and functional assays. This allowed the evaluation of possible modes of regulation of Reg expression and pertinent signaling.Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2018.Submitted to the Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering.Advisor: Emmanuel Tzanakakis.Committee: Kyongbum Lee, and Eleni Dokou.Keyword: Bioengineering
Reconstruction of Knowledge on Women's Body and Beauty During the Late Ming Period: Women's Knowledge in Fragrant Toilette to Embellish Beauty
No full textAbstract: The aim of this thesis is to examine the knowledge on women's body and beauty in the Fragrant Toilette to Embellish Beauty (Xiang Lian Run Se), which is a daily-use encyclopedia compiled and printed by a Hangzhou book merchant-scholar Hu Wenhuan during the late Ming period (1368-1644) . It stands out as a special encyclopedia because of its comprehensiveness and concerns about women's beauty maintenance and body cultivation. By comparing it with daily-use encyclopedias (Riyongleishu) and medical prescription book (Fangshu), I will restore the process of how Hu Wenhuan distributed and integrated other textual sources into the Fragrant Toilette to Embellish Beauty. This paper mainly argues that the Fragrant Toilette to Embellish Beauty targeted women as its main audiences and reflected the book compiler's inclination of gendering knowledge due to the commercial culture of the late Ming society.Thesis (M.A.)--Tufts University, 2018.Submitted to the Dept. of History.Advisor: Man Xu.Committee: Elizabeth Remick, and Diane O'Donoghue.Keywords: History, Asian history, and Asian studies
Synthesis, characterization, and oxidation catalysis studies of a monofunctionalized copper pyridine-aza macrocycle.
No full textA copper-containing pyridine-aza macrocycle (PyMAC) with a propionic acid functionality was synthesized and characterized using X-ray crystallography and various spectroscopic techniques. The complex was then screened for peroxidase, olefin epoxidation, and phenol oxidation properties, using an ABTS assay, GC-MS, and UV-Vis spectrophotometry, respectively. The control copper (II) perchlorate salts were superior oxidation catalysts to the pentadentate carboxylic acid complex, CuLCOOH, and the unfunctionalized amine PyMAC, CuCRH. This might indicate that free copper ions facilitate the one-electron oxidations necessary for the reactions better than complexed copper. It also indicates that the copper PyMACs are far less effective than the analogous nickel and iron systems. We did, however, obtain valuable insights on the chemistry governing this family of PyMACs by probing the CuLCOOH's solution and solid-phase protonation equilibria, which will be useful for isolating and studying the analogous iron complex, FeLCOOH